Verbena.] LVIII. VEKBENACEJE. 363 



rarely only 2, included in the tube. Fruit enclosed in the calyx, divid- 

 ing into 4 1-seeded nuts. 



A genus confined in Europe to one or two species, but comprising 

 numerous American ones, which have been still more multiplied in our 

 gardens by the more or less permanent varieties or races produced by 

 cultivation. 



1. V. officinalis, Linn. (fig. 822). Common V. — A nearly glabrous, 

 erect perennial, 1 to 2 feet high, with long, spreading, wiry branches. 

 Lower leaves obovate or oblong, stalked, and coarsely toothed or cut ; 

 the upper ones few, sessile, and lanceolate. Flowers very small, in 

 long, slender spikes, the lower ones becoming distant as the spike 

 lengthens, each one sessile in the axil of a small bract. 



On roadsides and on waste places, in central and southern Europe and 

 Asia, extending northwards into southern Sweden. Frequent in the 

 southern counties of England, rare in the north and in Ireland, unknown 

 in Scotland. Fl. summer and autumn. 



LIX. PLUMBAGINE^S. THE PLUMBAGO FAMILY. 



Herbs, or rarely undershrubs, usually hard and stiff; the 

 leaves mostly or entirely radical; the flowers in terminal heads, 

 spikes, or panicles. Calyx tubular, often enlarged and petal- 

 like at the top. Corolla of 5 petals, often united at the base. 

 Stamens 5, inserted at the base of the corolla or between the 

 petals. Ovary single, with 1 cell, and a single, suspended ovule, 

 but bearing 5 styles, either quite distinct or united below the 

 middle. Capsule either indehiscent or opening irregularly, 

 and enclosing a single seed. 



A small family, extending over most parts of the world, but chiefly 

 within the influence of the sea-air, or occasionally on high mountains. 

 Besides the two British genera, some species of Plumbago or Leadwort 

 (which gives its name to the family) are cultivated as ornamental 

 plants. 



Flowers in terminal panicles or spikes. Styles glabrous . . 1. Statice. 



Flowers in globular heads. Styles hairy at the base . . . .2. Armeria. 



I. STATICE. STATICE. 



Flowers solitary or 2 or 3 together, in little spikelets within 2 bracts, 

 these spikelets forming 1-sided spikes, arranged either in a dichotomous 

 or trichotomous panicle, or, in some exotic species, forming a single 

 spike. Calyx more or less expanded at the top into a dry, membranous, 

 coloured, and slightly 5-lobed limb, each lobe traversed by a green or 

 dark nerve. Petals slightly united at the base, the stamens inserted at 

 their point of union. Styles glabrous. 



The geographical range is the same as that of the family, of which 

 this genus includes the great majority of species. 



Leaves usually several inches long, the veins pinnate (when 



visible). Panicle very spreading and corymbose . • . 1. S. Limonium. 



